Gastrointestinal anastomosis with Histoacryl glue in rats

Technical difficulties in creating gastrointestinal anastomosis in infants and young children, because of the small lumen, are well known and may be complicated by a narrow passage, anastomotic obstruction, gastric stasis, recurrent vomiting, and failure to gain weight. The search for alternative easier technique was the basis for this study. The primary aim was to evaluate the safety of anastomosis between the stomach and a loop of the jejunum performed by using the tissue adhesive Histoacryl glue in comparison with the same anastomosis performed conventionally with absorbable sutures. We compared the results of gastrojejunal anastomosis in rats using either Histoacryl (n-butyl cyanoacrylate) glue or continuous, absorbable sutures. Sixty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups of 16 rats each. Gastroenterostomy was performed with either type of anastomosis with and without truncal vagotomy. The criteria of gastroenterostomy investigated included anastomotic leakage, stricture formation, adhesion formation, and histological examination. The pH of gastric secretion was measured with intact gastric innervation and after vagotmy in all rats. The time to complete each type of anastomosis was measured in minutes. Anastomotic stricture, leak, peritonitis, and death happened in three rats in each group with intact vagal innervation, in two rats after vagotomy and anastomosis with Histoacryl, and in one rat after vagotomy and anastomosis with sutures. The results showed no statistically significant differences between the various groups, except the shorter time for performing the glued anastomosis (5-7 min) compared to the conventional anastomosis (16-21 min). In conclusion, gastroenterostomy with Histoacryl in rats appears to be as safe as conventional suture anastomosis, saves operating time, and is not affected by gastric acidity.